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Answer: C. Eye Idol
This “eye idol” comes from the Tell Brak region of northeastern Syria, where thousands of similar figurines have been discovered in a monumental building now known as the “Eye Temple.” The lavish interior of the Eye Temple featured an altar decorated with colorful stones, silver nails and gold foil. Multi-colored mosaics covered the walls and floor.
Eye idols from Tell Brak tend to be made of bone or alabaster, and range in size from 1 to 10.5 inches (3–27 cm). The one pictured above is made of stone, measures 4.7 inches tall and has been dated to roughly 3000 B.C.E.
The eye was a popular religious and magical image across the ancient Near East. In the context of the “Eye Temple,” thousands of figurines like this one stood in lieu of people, keeping their gazes forever fixed on the god, enacting perpetual attentiveness to the divinity.
Although this figurine reflects an abstracted version of the form, many appear to have been personalized with carved depictions of clothes and naturalistic eyes to represent the people who brought them to the temple. Some represent a whole group of people; others, which have a small figure carved into a larger one, probably represent a parent and child. All of these “idols” are thought to have been votives, or offerings to the gods.
Answer: nine, five
The Via Dolorosa, or “Sorrowful Way,” is a route followed by pilgrims to reenact Jesus’ walk to Golgotha as he carried his cross through Jerusalem. Also known as the “Way of the Cross” (Via Crucis), the route consists of 14 stops, or stations, where followers mark certain events along the journey. It begins at St. Stephen’s Gate in the eastern wall of Jerusalem (Pilate’s condemnation of Jesus to death) and ends at the Holy Sepulchre (the burial of Jesus in a tomb).
The Via Dolorosa was developed in the 16th century by the Franciscans in Jerusalem, who saw a need for Christian pilgrims to retrace the steps of Jesus as he went to face his death. The route, as well as some of the nine stops along it, underwent some changes over the years and is not based so much on history as on pilgrims’ spiritual desire to reflect on and relate to Jesus’ passion and death.
The last five stations (from Jesus being stripped of his clothing to his burial) are located inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Although the site of the Holy Sepulchre does bear some convincing claims to authenticity, the floor of the church, where these stations are commemorated, lies high above the ground level of the first century A.D.
Answer: C. Eye Idol
This “eye idol” comes from the Tell Brak region of northeastern Syria, where thousands of similar figurines have been discovered in a monumental building now known as the “Eye Temple.” The lavish interior of the Eye Temple featured an altar decorated with colorful stones, silver nails and gold foil. Multi-colored mosaics covered the walls and floor.
